German Resistance Memorial Center Exhibition
“I wanted to prevent the war.” Georg Elser and the Assassination Attempt of November 8, 1939
A German Resistance Memorial Center exhibition
85 years ago, on November 8, 1939, the carpenter Johann Georg Elser attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler and leading National Socialists in Munich's Bürgerbräukeller. Having left the meeting room several minutes before the explosion, Hitler went unharmed. Georg Elser was arrested in Konstanz that same evening. Days later, after long interrogations, he confessed to the assassination attempt and his intention thereby of leveling a path to peace in Europe. Georg Elser was held in complete isolation in Sachsenhausen concentration camp for five years, and shot dead in Dachau concentration camp April 9, 1945, only weeks before the end of the war.
The National Socialists initially saw Georg Elser as an instrument of the British secret service. He continued to be defamed after 1945. There is no longer any doubt that he was acting alone, however. Aside from Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on July 20, 1944, Georg Elser's attempt was the only incident that might have endangered the dictator's life. Historians today regard Georg Elser as one of the most resolute opponents of the Nazi dictatorship.
This new exhibition documents his life and his assassination attempt. It is on display in the German Resistance Memorial Center's first-floor special exhibitions area from November 7, 2024 to January 28, 2025.
Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sat, Sun and public holidays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
We reserve the right to make changes. Information by telephone: +49 (0)30-26 99 50 00.